>> reporter: hagel would be the first defense secretary who saw combat as an enlisted soldier. as a poor kid from nebraska, he and his brother, tom, volunteered to serve in vietnam. the brothers served in the same infantry unit in 1968, both getting wounded, each crediting the other with saving their lives. >> i don't see the lens of every world event and whether we should use american power through the lens of vietnam. but it's part of me. >> reporter: hagel's service was praised -- >> i admire your service to your country. >> reporter: but he was criticized for being soft on iran and too tough on israel. at one point, criticizing what he called the jewish lobby. today, he took that comment back. >> i should have used another term, and i'm sorry. and i regret it. >> reporter: and hagel seemed to get confused about iran, which he called an elected, legitimate government, misstating president obama's position on iran's pursuit of nuclear weapons. hagel is likely to be confirmed, but even his supporters acknowledge he didn't have a particularly strong performance today. at one po